James Comey is concerned — and confused — about Barr's spying comments

Former FBI Director James Comey is extremely confused about Attorney General William Barr's spying comments.

Comey spoke at a conference in California Thursday, one day after Barr told Congress that he believes spying on President Trump's 2016 campaign "did occur." "I don’t know what the heck he’s talking about," Comey said. He added that Barr's language was "concerning," because though the FBI and Department of Justice "conduct court-ordered surveillance," he has "never thought of that as spying," and it's a "wow" moment if Barr does.

Trump and his allies have accused the Justice Department of improperly obtaining a FISA warrant to surveil former Trump aide Carter Page adviser after he left the campaign.

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Comey also said that while Barr has earned "a presumption that he'll be one of the rare Trump Cabinet members who will stand up for things like truth and facts and institutional values ... language like this makes it harder."

Meanwhile, Trump on Thursday celebrated Barr's comments, saying there "was absolutely spying into my campaign" and that Barr's statement was "a very accurate one."